Moments in Life As A Queen
by ChocolateInk123
Summary: [100 drabbles challenge, Reyna, WIP, Cover Credit (we all know her): Viria] A life of tragedy, happiness and sorrow. And that's Reyna Avila Ramirez-Arellano, the Queen (or sometimes the Praetor) of New Rome. #67 Where Reyna tries to joke and fails, but everyone laughs all the same.
1. Pride

_Title:__ Moments in Life As a Queen_

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_Prompt:__ Pride_

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_Word Count: __269_

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_A/N: Hi. My first story. Well, my first story that I have the courage to publish, anyway. And it may be a bit OOC._

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Most people are afraid when they look at her.

All they see is a cold-hearted Praetor who'd make the necessary sacrifices to _win._ Sometimes it disgusted her. She'd do anything to _protect them._ Not to win.

Older demigods frown when they look at her (because all they see is a girl who doesn't deserve to rule).

Children tug at their parents' cloths and point at her (because they see is a purple clothed hard faced girl who doesn't care about them).

They think Jason Grace is the ideal ruler. That she isn't. They think she'll one day lead to their doom. When they see Jason walk down the streets they smile because they see a _hero. _They don't believe that she is a hero.

There are times when she almost believes them. She believes that she might not be the leader they want (need) and once she almost quits.

But she can't.

She has a point to prove.

She's a daughter of Bellona and she is proud.

She's proud to be a hero and no matter what they say, she will be a hero. Her pride refuses to believe otherwise.

No matter what they say.

She's proud to be a Praetor. She's proud to rule side by side with _Jason Grace _(hero, their savior, son of Jupiter).

And she's proud to be born a daughter of Bellona. Maybe they don't see her, maybe all they see is a friend (the _sidekick_) of Jason's story. But she knows. She knows that she saved Jason. She knows she saved Rome.

And she's proud.

It doesn't matter that they don't know.

_End._

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_A/N: It may not be what the prompt exactly wants. But I tried my best :) _


	2. Unprofessional

_Title:__ Moments in Life As A Queen_

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_Prompt:__ Unprofessional_

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_Word Count: 212_

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_A/N:__ Thanks for the reviews! I totally appreciate it._

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She knows she is not unprofessional.

The badges on her toga prove that. The way the other centurions look at her screams respect and fear. That's how she rules, with respect and fear. She knows that if she sets a toe out of line (or let anyone else do it) she won't be what she set out to be. She won't be a proper Praetor. She'd be unprofessional.

And she can't bear to be unprofessional. She can't be the Praetor Percy Jackson was or Frank Zhang is.

She does her paperwork properly, shows everyone where her place really is (she's the Praetor. They're not). And she's the only Praetor who keeps her private life a secret (there are still rumors though: that she likes Jason and/or Percy, and those ridiculous).

She's glad that she is professional and not like the other Praetors are.

But sometimes, mostly when she sees Percy creating fountains to entertain people or Frank turning into a random animal or Piper and Jason kissing and being all cute, she _wants_ to be unprofessional.

She wants to entertain people (and not have them look at her in fear), she wants to have someone to be cute.

But she can't.

Because whatever she might be, Reyna Avila Ramirez-Arellano is not unprofessional.


	3. Pizza

_Title:__ Moments in Life As A Queen_

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_Prompt:__ Pizza_

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_Word__ Count:__ 341_

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_A/N:__Thi__s was harder than you might think. So I opted on something that is totally OOC._

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Unbeknownst to most people Reyna loves pizza.

She never had any before she came to Camp Jupiter, because Circe always told that it was unbecoming of a lady to eat junk food. And before that... Hylla and her never had the luxury.

.

Strangely, Jason was the one who introduced her to pizza. It was her second week in Camp Jupiter and she missed Hylla. Most people were also afraid to talk to her because she was a daughter of Bellona and Bellona herself came here and told her to join the second cohorts. It was dinner time and for the first time she got defeated by Jason when they sparred.

And she couldn't believe she lost to someone. She didn't lose. That's not who she is.

"Hey, so you don't hate me do you?" She was interrupted from her train of thoughts by the same person who won against her.

Jason Grace.

So she said what she's supposed to, "Yes. I do."

Jason laughed. Reyna's face slowly turned red in anger. _Why was he laughing at me?_ "Here's a peace offering," and he shoved a slice of something in front of her which pushed away the plate of vegetables she was staring distastefully at. She stared at the plate filled with too much cheese and little dough.

"What is it?"

"It's a pizza... wait, are you saying you don't know what a pizza is?" Jason looked at her expression before taking her wrist and dragging her over to where his friends were sitting. Then he proceeded to tell her all about pizza.

.

They made it an occasion. They ate at least two pizzas together every week. It continued on and built something between them. Something that Reyna likes to see as mutual trust and friendship.

.

She knew their friendship was over when she saw him standing there with the Greeks, laughing with them and eating _pizza_ with them. Pizza was something that made Reyna trust Jason.

Ironically, pizza is what broke it.

She now hates pizzas.


	4. Photograph

_Title:__ Moments in Life as A Queen_

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_Drabble:__ Photograph_

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_Word Count:__ 431_

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_A/N:__ I've always wanted to do a story where Annabeth thinks about what happened to Reyna and how it differs from her. Personally, I'm not so happy with the results._

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"What do you think these albums are for?" Annabeth yelled as she cleared Reyna's cabinets. The few things Reyna had apart from stashes of chocolates, weapons included five photo albums.

"Who knows?" Percy yelled back before coming and kneeling beside his girlfriend. "She is Reyna after all."

A moment of silence overcame Annabeth and Percy. No one knows where Reyna is now. Right after the war, she resigned as Praetor and left. And that left this room all to Frank Zhang who's out with his girlfriend Hazel.

And Percy and Annabeth volunteered to clean the Praetor's villa for Frank. No one thought there'd be so many things hidden about Reyna here. "Wanna open it?" Percy asked, wrapping an arm around Annabeth.

"Yeah, sure, why not?" Annabeth shrugged.

.

Only three photos caught Annabeth's eyes. Three photos that told how much Reyna lost in the war.

_i._

It was a sunny day in what Annabeth recognized as C.C's spa (guilt crushed Annabeth's chest but she ignored it). Hylla (who looked so much like Reyna that they could be passed as twins) and a ten year old Reyna were playing on the beach. Reyna and Hylla both were engrossed in throwing sand at each other's face.

They looked like they were having fun.

Reyna lost Hylla forever because of her and Percy.

_ii._

The second one featured a pikachu, Jason Grace, purple toga and Reyna.

Reyna was grinning widely (did Annabeth ever see her grin?) with her right arm around Jason and left hand tightly clasping the pikachu. Jason was wearing a purple toga with blue stripes (strangely he looked great.) and his left arm around Reyna's waist. They weren't paying attention to the camera but instead, they were grinning at each other as if nothing else mattered in the world.

Jason was Reyna's Percy Jackson, Annabeth realized. Without Jason, Reyna would fall.

And she lost Jason too. (Annabeth couldn't imagine how it would feel to lose Percy.)

_iii._

The third picture was of Gwen, Dakota, Jason and Reyna. They were on the battlefield, possibly right after surviving a battle. All of them looked tired and battle worn but they were smiling at the camera. Reyna looked like she belonged. Reyna looked happy.

And Annabeth realized that the Greeks took her happiness too. They killed Gwen and Dakota.

.

The Greeks took everyone Reyna ever had (Hylla, Jason Grace, Gwen, Dakota).

Annabeth couldn't imagine what she'd do if the Romans took everyone she cared about (she was so jealous when Percy mentioned staying in Rome).

Maybe, for the first time, she understood Reyna a little.


	5. Strawberry

_Title:__ Moments In Life As A Queen_

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_Prompt:__ 97\. Strawberry_

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_Word Count:__ 266_

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_A/N:__ This one was messier than I'd like to think. _

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The first thing Reyna noticed when she walked up to Camp Half-Blood with the Athena Parthenos with Nico and Coach Hedge was the strawberries and the smell of death. She noticed the strawberry field the first time (she also thought it was the last time) she came here with Octavian.

There was blood scattered everywhere ('You should feel right at home, child of Bellona,' a voice whispered in her mind) along with strawberries. There were bodies of her soldiers and her allies (if she could, she'd kill Octavian herself). And strawberries.

The strawberries were everywhere.

She had to force herself to stand strong and not reel back from the way Camp Half-Blood smelt.

She remembered the first time she entered the border of Camp Half-Blood. Despite the fact that there will be a huge battle every single demigod in Camp Half-Blood was happy. She was able to see the smoke from the campfire every night when the Romans prepared themselves to fight. And strangely she could smell the strawberries even outside the border.

And to her, it felt like home.

The strawberries, the warmth, the happiness was everything she lost in Camp Jupiter and in C.C's spa resort. She remembered plucking strawberries with Hylla and she remembered seeing the children of Ceres supplying them with strawberries and grapes. Both of them went up in flames.

And every time her home was destroyed there was a mixture of blood and strawberries. Something that never stopped to horrify Reyna.

Now, Camp Half-Blood smelt like blood and strawberries.

Her third home was destroyed. And she was responsible for it.


	6. Innocence

_Title:__ Moments in Life As a Queen_

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_Word Count:__ 443_

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_'And innocence is gone, and what was right is wrong.' – Imagine Dragons, Bleeding Out_

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Reyna's hands shook. They never shook while she killed – not even when she had to murder demigods. Her eyes lowered down to Jason's blue eyes and saw him giving up. His eyes seemed to want only one thing – a painless death.

The Greeks lost, Jason was branded a traitor, and Octavian was the praetor. Reyna had to prove her allegiance to Rome, by killing a traitor – a friend, colleague and a true child of Rome.

"Kill the traitor, Reyna," Octavian sneered. "Or are you too attached to the traitor, Praetor?"

Reyna gritted her teeth. She could see the dead bodies of the fallen Greeks littered around the Half-Blood Hill, along with her friend – Annabeth's. She could see Percy's head bowed down, Hazel and Frank holding onto each other and Piper's tear filled eyes. The body of Leo Valdez was still burning – Reyna didn't know how Octavian managed to burn the son of Hephaestus, nor did she want to.

"I am not attached to any traitor, Octavian." _Grace was never a traitor to Rome _went unsaid.

"What, then? Kill him and prove your loyalty to Rome, _to me_." Octavian smiled. Reyna looked at the faceless crowd, her comrades; they were all urging her to kill Jason. She needed to kill Jason, in order to gain back their trust.

_This is all so wrong, _Reyna thought as her dagger slashed through Jason's throat, his blood splattered on her face. She heard Piper's final scream as a child of Apollo shot her down. She closed her eyes but she could still see the noiseless screams of Hazel and the whimpers of Percy as Frank tried to comfort them both.

.

_"You aren't a traitor. You can't be, you know." Reyna murmured. Jason was flying over her, as he always did when he was frustrated, angry or confused._

_"But they're all saying that." Jason muttered, "Especially Octavian."_

_Reyna laughed, they were near the garden of Bacchus. Reyna's hands clasped tightly around the mug of hot chocolate, "Octavian is always spewing bull. No one believes him."_

_Jason was suddenly beside her. "He says that the recent monsters are attacking because of me. He says I'm going to kill all the Romans – because I… I work for the Titans."_

_Reyna put down her mug. "You're the praetor now, Grace. _

_Reyna put down her mug. "You're the praetor now, Grace. You're not a traitor; you never worked for the Titans. You'll never help any enemy of Rome and you're not going to kill the Romans. It's wrong."_

_"I'll never be a traitor," Jason promised. "That's wrong."_


	7. Ghost

_Title:__ Moments in Life As A Queen_

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_Prompt:__ Ghost_

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_Word Count:__ 499_

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_A/N:__ This totally contains spoilers for Blood of Olympus._

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"We have to go home, Hylla." A ten year old Reyna tugged at Hylla's sleeve. "Father will be angry."

Hylla was looking straight ahead, at the bush in front of them. Reyna tried to look for anything peculiar there. Hylla was in some distant land Reyna didn't know about. "We could go across the sea. We could go to the sea of monsters." Hylla murmured to herself.

A gasp escaped past Reyna's lips. "You know we can't do that. Father would _kill_ us."

And then Hylla was brought back to reality. "Yeah. Let's go to our house."

.

Father _was_ angry, Reyna realized, her head hitting the wall with a dull thud. A sharp pain came from the impact, but she ignored it keeping her eyes trained on Hylla and Father. Weapons were flying all around the house, hurtling towards them at the least expected moments. "WHERE DID YOU GO?" A sword flew towards Reyna. It missed Reyna at the last moment as Hylla pushed her towards the fireplace where they pretended, beside the sofa.

"YOU CAN'T PROTECT HER FROM ME, HYLLA." Their father screamed, floating towards Hylla, who had a trickle of blood flowing through the side of her head.

"I can and I will." Reyna's sister shrieked defiantly.

Time seemed to stop as their father glowed like the sun. The harsh light emitting from her father blinded Reyna and Hylla, for a moment.

The sofa exploded sending bits of springs, cotton and clothes everywhere. "REYNA," Her sister was in front of her in a moment holding an ax, "Are you hurt?"

"No," Reyna croaked, looking at the glowing silhouette of her father. "What is our Father doing, Hylla?"

Hylla's jaw clenched. "It's not our father, Reyna. It's a _ghost."_

"ARGHHHHH," The floor beneath them opened up swallowing up the blasted sofa. Reyna and Hylla rolled out of the way, just managing to avoid getting swallowed.

Reyna repeated her question. "I don't know," Hylla whispered back, staring at the bright light of the ghost that was her father. "But I do know that you have to get out of here."

Reyna and Hylla tried to hide, and finally found an escape route. "You go and get help." She yelled, already running back towards the house, the ax held tightly in her hand.

"What about you? I'm not leaving you behind."

A dagger came towards Reyna out of nowhere and she dodged it from sheer practice. "You have to leave. NOW."

_Who'll help fight a ghost?_ Reyna wanted to shout, but before her protests could be voiced a chair hit Hylla on the back of the head and Hylla crumpled, blood spilling on the floor. Her sister was dead and it was the fault of the_ ghost_ in front of her.

She didn't know what happened next. All she wanted to do was decapitate that thing so she could escape with Hylla. But after the sabre hit it's target the ghost crumbled to nothingness.

That was her first murder.


End file.
